Being a October baby, the fall season has always been my favorite! I love the crisp weather, the changing of leaves, the dark color tones and the pumpkin flavored treats. Not only does the fall mean my birthday, but now includes my wedding anniversary and our dog's birthday, all within the span of 3 October days.
To celebrate it all, we host a Fall Horstmannfest Party at our home in Fairfield, CT. This year was our second fall fest, so of course I wanted to make it even better than the first! My husband and I invite our work friends, mutual friends as well as family, which at times invokes those awkward meet and greets as people from different parts of your life come together in one place. To curb this and provide our guests with a way to meet someone new, outside of the typical eat, drink, chat repeat (which, don't get me wrong, can be fun too!), I came up with the first annual "Headless Horstmann Games."
When it was game time, we provided each participating player with a name-tag to remove the name barrier for any new guests. We appointed 4 captains which were given a different color bandana to draft their team. We ended up having 20 players, so the red/blue/white/black team captains were able to select 4 other party goers to join their team.
This years line-up consisted of 8 outdoor games that tested different strengths. It was suggested that the captains choose wisely when selecting their team members, as the games varied in their focus. Some were created around hand eye coordination, physical ability, luck of the draw, knowledge of the hosts and fellow party guests.
Prior to the party, I created score cards on canva which were provided to each captain, on a clipboard, to keep track of their points. The ultimate goal was for their team to gain the most points and be crowned the winner at the end of the day!
Who's Who? Halloween Edition
Instructions: Work as a team to determine which party guest is in which costume
Game Supplies: 16 childhood photos compiled into a photo sheet (see below).
Day of Supplies: Clipboard + photo sheet + pens
Points: +1 for each correct guess / +2 bonus points for correctly guessing their age (in months or years) in photo
Implementation: This game took a bit of planning ahead. I reached out to guests that RSVP'd yes, asking them to send me a childhood photo dressed up for Halloween, followed up by what age they are in the photo. I then compiled these photos into a game sheet which was distributed to each team. They found a spot in the yard to complete their sheet together. After about 10 minutes we regathered everyone and revealed the answers as a group (don't forget to create a answer key for yourself!)
Rating: 5 out of 5 - Everyone loved this game! It was hilarious to watch as they tried to determine who each party guest was in their younger years. Having players that have different relationships with those pictured assisted in the ability to make educated guesses or spark debate for their names and ages.
Flip That Cauldron
Instructions: 2 teams will compete at a time in the fan favorite: FLIP CUP! All team members are encouraged to participate with the beverage of their choice. Each team must play 2 games.
Game Supplies: Solo cups (one per player) + ping pong balls
Day of Supplies: Beverages of choice
Points: +10 to the winning team of each game
Implementation: We had team blue vs. white and they played two games. The winner of each game received 10 points. Then we had team red vs. black and they played two games.
Rating: 5 out of 5 - It was fun for us to do this drinking game at the beginning, as it helped loosen up the players in a faced paced game.
Horstmann Trivia
Instructions: Correctly answer a Horstmann themed trivia question.
Game Supplies: 8 questions + answers
Day of Supplies: Clipboard + pen + blank answer sheet for teams to write their answers on
Points: +1 for each correct answer
Implementation: For this game we had all the groups gather in the yard. We asked each question to all groups and they had 30 seconds to talk among themselves and write down their answer. At the conclusion of all 8 rounds, we revealed the answers as a group.
Rating: 4 out of 5 - This was fun to see who knew us best! Since it was our anniversary celebration, we tailored our questions to be about our relationship which it seemed there was at least one person per group that knew close to the answer for each.
Ring Around The Witch
Instructions: Teams will select one team member to wear the witch hat while others take turns tossing rings from noted start line, with the hopes of landing around the hat.
Team have 6 attempts (2 per person) to rack up as many points as possible.
Game Supplies: Inflatable witch hat + rings filled with air
Day of Supplies: Nothing additional
Points: The rings are denoted +25, + 50 or +100
Implementation: This Inflatable Witch Hat Ring Toss Game was purchased at Party City which saved me from having to create another game on my own!
Rating: 1 out of 5 - Unfortunately it wasn't as successful as we had hoped. With the rings being filled with air, they were difficult to throw.
Improvements: In the future, I would change this to "Ring Around The Pumpkin Stem" and have 3 pumpkins in the yard, each with a point value written on them. From a designated throw line, I would provide the players with a glow stick necklace or another type of ring to thow. Points would be tallied after 6 throws.
How Many Candy Corns Are There?
Instructions: Each team member submits a guess for the total # of candy corn
pieces they believe are inside the mason jar.
Game Supplies: Candy corns + mason jar
Day of Supplies: Scraps of paper + pens + basket or bowl
Points: +3 goes to the team who's member had the closest guess without going over (Price is Right Style)
Implementation: To determine how many candy corns could fit in my mason jar, I filled it up and then poured it out to count. For the day of, we allowed each team member to provide their own guess. Some teams allowed their players to work individually while others came together to pick guesses that flanked what they believed to be the winning number.
Rating: 3 out of 5 - This was an easy, quick game that can be done as players are taking a break or waiting for another round to start.
Poke The Pumpkin
Instructions: All teams alternate between players poking a section of the pumpkin.
Depending on what you find inside, your team may receive points, lose points,
you could be asked to drink or enjoy some "sweet" treats.
Game Supplies: 21 solo cups + orange tissue paper + rubber bands + small items to go inside (nips, lottery tickets, Halloween candy, marbles, penny) + creative messages for inside.
Day of Supplies: Nothing additional
Points: Points are tallied & added to the teams overall score.
Implementation: Not every cup had a message that called out points but the ones that did had to be pre-written and hidden inside the cups. Here's a sample of what we included:
Oops! You spilled your pumpkin spice latte! You lose 3 points!
Win as many points as dollars won on this scratch ticket.
Sharing is caring. Pick a person to drink this second nip and their team loses 2 points.
You're on fire! Take this fireball shot and gain 5 points.
The teams gathered around a table that had the pumpkin displayed. We rotated through each team as they selected a new player to test their luck at poking a section. After all had gone, we had one remaining cup. In that situation I had 1 player from each team face off in rock, paper, scissors battle to determine who would receive the final cup.
Rating: 5 out of 5 - This was a huge hit! This is a great game of chance that brought the whole party together. There is so much flexibility when it comes to the shape of the cups and the items inside -- there are endless possibilities!
Ghost + Seek
Instructions: Find the 8 ghosts are hidden around the Horstmann grounds.
Game Supplies: Ghost garland, cut off the string (similar one here)
Day of Supplies: Nothing additional
Points: +4 for each ghost that is found and brought back to the hosts.
Implementation: We ended up starting the game portion of our party about 2 hours in, so guests were seeing some of the ghosts inside and outside of the house without knowing they were part of the game. When it was time for me to introduce the game, I said, "I know some of you have already been eyeing the ghosts. But, when I say go, it will be your job to retrieve the ghosts before another team and bring them back to me.
Rating: 5 out of 5 - This game was really fun and extremely competitive! By the end there were 2 ghosts still hidden inside our house and guests were locking doors to keep others out while they had more time to look.
Ladder Golf
Instructions: 2 teams will compete at a time using traditional ladder golf rules.
Game Supplies: Ladder Golf Set
Day of Supplies: Nothing additional
Points: +21 awarded to each each winning team
Implementation: Prior to this game we did a points check, where each team tallied up their points so we knew where everyone stood.
We realized that the the two teams were neck and neck, so to ensure there was no tie we ended up playing three games. The first round was 4th place vs. 3rd place. The second round was 2nd place vs. 1st place. The final round was played from the winners of the previous games, which allowed us to crown a winner.
Rating: 5 out of 5 - In the past we've had a cornhole tournament and guests said they enjoyed this much more! It was fun as we allowed them to change up the person throwing the bolas, if desired. It is also a game that not many of our friends had played before, so it added a level of newness and excitement.
The Winners!
Let's just say the Blue Team was ecstatic to be crowned the winners of the first annual "Headless Horstmann Games!" Each team member received a Halloween koozie and skeleton trophy while the losing team captain received a comical "Horseshit Trophy."
Keeping adults entertained isn't always easy, so I'm incredibly proud of the day we put together for our friends and family! It was great to see everyone making a new connection or strengthening old ones, laughing, sharing in a friendly competitive and ultimately having so much fun!
If interested in incorporating these games into a party of your own & you'd like the editable Canva game sheets, message me!
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